Garrett, Romo confident Witten will break out of slump

ARLINGTON – Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has a simple solution to the slump that has plagued tight end Jason Witten the last two games.

“He just has to keep playing,” Garrett said.

Witten has dropped three passes each of the last two games. In Sunday’s 16-10 win over Tampa Bay, he committed two false start penalties and missed a block that contributed to one of the Bucs’ four sacks of Tony Romo.

Witten finished with just two catches for eight yards. One of the passes he dropped could have gone for a touchdown.

Garrett believes Witten’s struggles stem from all the time he missed after he suffered a lacerated spleen in the preseason opener Aug. 13.

“He hasn’t caught balls that we are used to him catching,” Garrett said. “I’m not making excuses for him, but there was a stretch of about four weeks where he didn’t practice. He gutted it out for us in a heroic effort against the Giants (in the opener Sept. 5), but he is still getting his feet underneath him. He’s had six practices since then and I think he’s just trying to get back into his rhythm. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever been around, so we are going to keep giving him opportunities.”

Witten uncharacteristically did not speak to reporters after the game. Romo said he isn’t worried about Witten.

“No, no concern,” Romo said. “Jason is as good of a player that there is at his position in the league. I think that Jason sets such a standard for himself and everyone is shocked if he doesn’t play perfect. Sometimes you just go by a catch or something that doesn’t happen, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. He played a good game. But I know that people are just going to see one thing and think something.

“Jason does an outstanding job for us and he’s not going anywhere for a long time.”